Consumers Win: 1More And Its Goal To Disrupt Headphones

Before delving into details about 1More, to set the stage I want to revisit the infamous Beats Solo HD teardown by Bolt in 2015. 

Disassembly of the Beats headphones revealed a $20.18 bill of materials for parts used to build the $199 headphones. An initial teardown was found to have been a counterfeit pair, but even then the difference in parts pricing between real and fake was only three dollars and change. The point of this isn’t that Apple ’s Beats are bad headphones, it’s to say that there is clearly a lot of room to move on price when it comes to a decent, stylish set of headphones. Manufacturing and shipping obviously add to that $20.18 cost, but between there and $199 is a lot of marketing dollars and some impressive profit margins.

There is also a huge market of headphone sellers flogging ultra-cheap headphones. Search on Amazon for headphones under $25 and you’ll see nearly 60,000 options. However, if those Beats Solo HDs cost $20.18 just for parts, it seems pretty obvious that a sub $25 pair of headphones is bound to sound far from spectacular and the construction quality is likely to be suspect as well.

The middle ground --premium sound quality and engineering a la Beats, but without the huge markup-- is what 1More is targeting, and the company says it is intent on “disrupting an industry where price hiking and design shortcuts are the norm.” 1More makes some bold claims, stating its headphones are “over-engineered and over-tested.” They employ features like Kevlar core cables, forged aluminum cable splitters, aerospace grade metals including titanium and aluminum alloy, and multiple ear tip sizes (for in-ear models) to ensure a perfect fit. They’re also custom tuned by a Grammy award-winning producer.

After selling 10 million units in its first year of operations and topping 24 million in year two, 1More began to target the U.S. market in 2015. As Forbes’ Aaron Tilley reported, the results showed just how ready consumers were for a change: Xiaomi’s Mi Store offered an $80 pair of 1More headphones in the U.S. and Europe and they sold out within 30 minutes.

My exposure to 1More began with a sampling of review units. My first impression was packaging that immediately reveals an attention to detail. As you can see from the photo above, everything is boxed attractively in a manner that showcases the products. The approach is minimalist, but upscale. If you don’t think those boxes are important, especially when it comes to consumer electronics, just ask Apple why it sweats the details to such a degree on its packaging.

Picking a few of the 1More headphones I’ve spent some time with, the quality to price ratio has been very evident. For the past month or so, I’ve been wearing the 1More MK801 Over-Ear Headphones on my morning run and on extended hikes with my dog (I prefer over-ear headphones to ear buds). The headphones are lightweight and sweat resistant, they look great --I’m especially fond of the bright metallic red of the review unit-- and the sound quality is excellent. Steel (not plastic) ear cups rotate in four directions for a perfect fit that does a great job of isolating external sound. The headband is titanium steel with thick foam padding; it’s comfortable, holds the headphones on securely and stands up to twisting and other abuse. The tangle-resistant audio cable has a Kevlar core for strength, features an inline mic and controls for iOS and Android, and it’s removable.

The kicker is the price: at $79.99, they cost a fraction of what other manufacturers are charging for headphones of this caliber.

Another great example is 1More’s Triple Driver In-Ear Headphones. Audio quality is fantastic compared to typical ear buds because of the signature triple driver feature: instead of the usual one or two drivers covering the entire sonic range, these offer dual-balanced armatures plus a dynamic driver. Premium ear buds in general have been moving to the triple driver model for the superior sound reproduction they offer. In this case, those balanced armatures handle the upper frequencies (to a claimed 40 kHz for extreme detail) while the dynamic driver is dedicated to lower frequencies, ensuring powerful bass reproduction.

Besides the audio quality, 1More's design and engineering make a premium statement. The earphone body is made of sand-blasted, forged aluminum colored black with elegant gold trim. The cable is enameled copper wrapped around Kevlar with an outer coating of braided nylon. Inside the magnetically closed box are the headphones along with an assortment of high quality accessories: six sets of silicon ear tips, three sets of memory foam ear tips, a dual prong airline adapter, shirt clip and --instead of the usual cloth bag-- a compact leather (or maybe faux leather, I couldn’t tell) stitched protective travel case with a magnetic clasp.

The entire experience is upscale, with no corners cut: fit, design, audio performance, packaging and accessories.

Priced at $99.99, these ear buds are a warning shot across the bow of premium audio manufacturers who are routinely charging $300 or more for triple driver in-ear headphones.

We’ve seen the disruption companies like Xiaomi have caused in the smartphone market. The classic model of $650+ flagship smartphones has been challenged by models offering increasing comparable design, features and quality for half the price. 1More is determined to cause the same sort of disruption in the headphone market and based on what the company has released so far, it is well on its way to achieving that goal. Some of the established premium audio brands may eventually have to adjust to a world where they can't get away with the margins they're accustomed to, but music-loving consumers are clear winners in this scenario.

Disclosure: 1More provided headphones for review purposes